ADT JOURNAL: CHAPTER 36

This chapter was typed at the Grayson Country Inn Bed & Breakfast in
Blanding, Utah. It was sent to Pete on the Internet from the True Value
Hardware Store in Monticello, Utah courtesy of Bob Francom.

August 22, Friday
It's a good thing we are able to find ways to alternate the difficult days
with easier days. Or, perhaps we'll just call them less difficult days as
"easier" is a relative term. We ascended over 4,000 vertical feet today as
we rode from the town of Beaver up Beaver Canyon and over the Tushar
Mountain Range. Beaver was at less than 6,000 feet and we topped out
around 10,300 feet on Big John Flat. On the way we passed by Elk Meadows
Ski Area and Puffer Lake Resort. The scenery was great, especially the
canyon and the meadows on top plus the views of the 12,000 foot peaks
around us. This is the highest elevation we will reach on our trip through
Utah.

On our way down, the road (Utah state highway 135) turned to gravel but
Laurie coped okay as it was a good surface. Just before going over the
summit we were caught in a light hail storm. On our descent, Bill got
another flat tire. :-(( He will get a new rear tire at the first
opportunity. The previous cut in the tire, even though patched with duct
tape, somehow punctures the tube.

We have had afternoon thunderstorms yesterday and today which they tell us
are really unusual. We are glad to be down off the mountain before the
lightning comes. We had a reminder of how long this trip has been.
Children in most Utah counties started school this week.

After our long day, we got a room in a B&B in the town of Junction, Utah.
It's a restored 1890's home. There was no shower but instead it had a big
old clawfoot bathtub in the middle of the large bathroom. We both took
luxurious bubble baths which helped soothe away the soreness we were both
feeling. Finally, the Last Go-Round Cafe served up a great shrimp and
pasta special. Frank and Belinda, the owners, recently opened the cafe
when they moved here from Las Vegas. We told them their place definitely
ranked in our "best restaurants" contest.

Oh yeah, we noticed Bill's bike computer clicked over 4,000 miles today.
These are not all ADT miles as there are probably 300 miles going to and
from camps, towns, restaurants, backtracking, etc. Still, this seems very
impressive to us and it is a very long distance.

44 miles, 7.3 mph, 6 hours, 4,035 total miles biked

August 23, Saturday
As we get deeper into Utah, the terrain is changing. Wide valleys and
mountain ranges are being replaced by more rocks and canyons. Our ride
this morning took us through a canyon whose lower sedimentary rock was
capped by a harder rock. The result is eroded pillars, shelter caves, and
many eerie rock formations. The thunderstorm yesterday afternoon really
hit this area with a vengeance and the road had at least a dozen places
where flash flooding had washed mud and gravel over the road. The highway
crews had been busy though and had already plowed off most of the mess, but
warning signs and a thin layer of mud remained in lots of places. We saw
Otter Creek Reservoir on our right as we biked up the sagebrush covered
Grassy Valley.

This region appears to be a favorite area for ATV and motorcycle riding.
There are a number of trails built for them here. The Paiute Trail and its
many side trails covers about 240 miles. Some of this trail is used by the
ADT.

Again, today, we noticed thunderstorms building by late morning, so we were
glad for our early start and our arrival in Koosharem before noon. We
stayed in a bunkhouse type room at a ranch for the night.

41.5 miles, 11.4 mph, 3 hours 38 minutes 4,076 total miles biked

August 24, Sunday
We began by climbing Parker Mountain to the western edge of the Awapa
Plateau at 8,400 feet elevation in 16 miles. When we topped out on Parker
Mountain, we officially left the Great Basin physiographic region and
entered the Colorado Plateau region. On top, the plateau was more rolling
than we expected and quite desolate. No houses, ranches, or trees were in
sight, only grass or sagebrush covered hills. The descent into Loa was
fast and fun. From here on, we will be following the Fremont River, which
is the first river in Nevada or Utah which we have seen that flows into the
Colorado River.

We stopped at a local cheese factory for a quick tour which a maintenance
man gave us despite the fact that the store was closed on Sunday. The milk
is delivered into huge tanks and pumped through pipes which are enclosed in
larger steam pipes to pasteurize it. It is poured into large vats where
the enzymes are added and mixed. This causes the milk to form curds and
whey. The whey is drained off and the curds are then pressed into blocks
of cheese.

Our route today took us through a number of small towns for a change. We
stopped in a cafe at most of them for a snack and a chance to talk to some
local people  hash brown potatoes in Loa, a pie or milkshake in Bicknell,
a sandwich in Torrey. Since the day was still fairly cool we decided to
ride the 11 extra miles to camp at Capitol Reef National Park. It seemed
as soon as we left Torrey, the land forms changed dramatically. The grassy
valley gave way to enormous red rock cliffs and canyons. When we got to
the campground, Bill still had energy for a 4 mile hike on the Cohab Canyon
and Brinkman Arch Trails, while Laurie decided to relax. When talking to
the ranger about our trip, we got an invite to his apartment for a shower,
which we readily accepted. On our evening tour of the campground, we met
five different families from Germany. The West is popular with Europeans
as they fly to L.A., Law Vegas, or San Francisco and rent motorhomes for a
month or more and tour our national parks.

56 miles, 11.4 mph, 4 hours 51 minutes 4,138 miles biked

August 25, Monday
Some days on this trip have been just awesome  today was one of those
days. From our campground, we rode down through the canyon of the Fremont
River through the Park, past more towering redstone cliffs, hidden side
canyons, past weirdly shaped pinnacles, spires, and gargoyles. Finally,
the canyon widened into a broad valley with sharp-edged mesas, buttes, and
badland type formations. And, the bonus was, we were headed downhill all
the way except for a couple small rises to provide a broader view of the
sandstone and desert. Then, as we were just beginning a major descent, we
saw the very first long distance bike riders of our whole 4,000 mile
journey. Buss and Vis, a young couple from Holland, seemed just as excited
to see us as we were to see them. We talked for about 10 minutes. They
were on a 6,000 mile trip which included Australia, the western US, and
British Columbia. They were young enough to be our kids but we all enjoyed
the brief encounter.

Arriving in Hanksville by 11 am, we ate a late breakfast, got a motel room,
and chilled out while the sun raged outside to over 100 degrees. We will
be up early tomorrow for a 50 mile day to Lake Powell which is at only 3700
feet elevation. It will likely be very hot there.

37.4 miles, 13.5 mph, 2 hours 45 minutes 4,173 total miles biked

August 26, Tuesday
It was very dark when we left this morning because the sliver of moon and
all the stars were obscured by cloudy skies. Still, it was rather warm as
we pedaled down UT 95 through the desert. As the sun began to dawn, we
were greeted with intermittent light rain. This and the all day cloud
cover helped to cool us. When we reached the Glen Canyon area, the road
began to descend into a canyon of massive red rock, sheer cliffs, towering
pillars, and pockmarked walls. We know that our description of this
country is sounding redundant, but it is just magnificent. It felt as if
the road was the Colorado River and we were rafting through the Grand
Canyon. We crossed the Colorado River over the Hite Bridge and rode down
to the marina. There, we rented a small boat for 1 1/2 days to take a very
small tour of Lake Powell, as this lake has more miles (1900) of shoreline
than the entire US west coast on the Pacific Ocean.

Bill calculates that we have lost 4700 feet elevation from Parker Mountain
on Sunday to Lake Powell making for 128 miles of mostly downhill in the
past three days. Not since coming off Grand Mesa in Colorado have we had
such a great descent. We both realized that we would be paying our dues
when we climb out of Glen Canyon, but that was a worry for another day.

On the boat, we explored several canyons, some which became quite narrow,
before we camped for the night on a small peninsula. We jumped in for a
couple of swims and heard many fish jumping in the water as we cooked
dinner. Bill wishes he had his fishing gear now!

August 27, Wednesday
Today, we actually got to sleep in. It was 8 am before we got out of the
tent. The dawn came with clouds and light rain, so we packed up our gear
and put it in the boat under the awning. The rain was short-lived and we
spent the day exploring more canyons (in the boat) and by taking several
swims to keep cooled off. The scenery is just spectacular here and it
changes around every bend. At one point, Bill took a one mile hike to
explore an old mining road that was built long before the dam on Lake
Powell. We camped near the Hite Marina after turning in our boat. Much of
our conversation lately is spent discussing what parts of the trip we liked
best. We are starting to think about what life will be like on our return
to Lynchburg. After talking to Mick, we learned we have a retirement
dinner to attend for Bill's former boss, a Habitat for Humanity house to
build, plus a going away party for Kathy Kowalski.